A little privacy please!

 Cornelia looooves bath time.  As soon as dinner is over she pushes back her little chair and says, "Baaa?".  Sometimes it's a go, sometimes it's not, but she's always thrilled when the answer is "yes"!

Now that the kids are getting bigger we've graduated from the toss them all in the tub and get 'er done mentality into some take showers and some take baths.  Often times Max and Cornelia will still take a bath together, especially if we are short on time (and we usually are!).

On this particular night though, Ruby had showered earlier, so Max got to shower in the master bath while Cornelia took her bath as usual.  Jared had that girl cleaned up and into her footie pajamas before Max had even gotten soaped up, so she went off exploring while we cleaned up the kitchen and decluttered a bit from the day.  All of a sudden we realized that it was a little too quiet so Jared went to find our littlest trouble maker.  Imagine his surprise when he found her...

Why Maxwell didn't raise the alarm I'll never understand!  I guess he's just so used to bathing with his baby sister that he didn't even pay attention to the little problem of her pjs being on!  Silly kids!

Skate Park Savvy

Somehow, between the nap and school schedules our field trip quota has been waaay down this year. As a result, it seems that screen time is at an all time high, as is general whiney-ness! (Big surprise!)

In an effort to increase our joy and savor life a bit more we headed out of the house and got busy at Zero Gravity Skatepark for Toddler Time. They have a great thing going over there-- it's your typical indoor skatepark complete with lots of crazy ramps, bars, etc. Take away the skateboards and skater dudes and you have one totally awesome toddler playground. They even put in a little bounce house which is always a hit with little ones.

Maxwell had a blast slipping and sliding all over the place and Cornelia was in baby heaven just crawling around getting filthy! :) Maxwell did take her down a few ramps, but nothing was quite as thrilling for her little ten month old self than freeeedoooom!

Although it's only the end of March, I've started to set my sights on Summer vacation and just how we are going to manage keeping the whiney factor down and the fun factor up-- my solution (and this is not revolutionary by any means)-- STRUCTURE! I've started to think out a few fun idea for the summer months. I'm thinking that field trips are going to play a role and I'm thinking about trying to be a lot more deliberate in making our outings an educational experience too.

So here are my ideas and I'd love to hear more! Hit me with some comments peeps!

1. Notebook Time: I plan to have a small spiral bound notebook for each of the older kiddos where each day we will draw a picture (or two) about what we've done that day and write a sentence about it. In Maxwell's case, I will write what he dictates and in Ruby's, she will write her own using "Kid-writing". Not only will it be a great memory of our summer days, it will be great practice on some skills they have been working on at school. An added benefit is that it will help me be deliberate in making sure there's something super cool to draw each day!

2. Journey Around the World: I found some great curriculum at our local library that will be a fun naptime event. The kids will have little passports and each day we get to visit a new place. They learn about the place by doing a craft, hearing a short story, or even making food from the country. I think it will be big fun for all of us.

3. Daily Devotionals and Bible Memory Verses: We do some of this already, but I want to be more intentional about it and actually carve out time in our day to make it important and something we all look forward to, rather than just squeezed in here and there.

4. Hikes and Field Trips: I found a great resource last year where kids can earn badges by doing little nature hikes and doing activities along the trail. Time to break out the Kelty pack and enjoy some great outdoors time!

5. Exploring our own backyard: We have a great yard for kids. It is just hilarious to sit outside and listen to Ruby and Max exploring in the woods. They have a blast imagining all sorts of adventures and discovering new things. We also have a small creek on our property that may be fun to look for water bugs, etc. in. Maybe we can even take a field trip to Daddy's lab and look at the water through the microscope!

Can you tell I'm excited for summer! Good thing Spring Break is just around the corner. We'll have to take some of my ideas for a test drive.

Hope you are enjoying the onset of spring and getting excited about all family time to come!

Uh-oh!

Well, it's official, Maxwell has his first scar!

I got a phone call yesterday around 11:30 that Maxwell had fallen on the school playground and cut his head. My initial reaction was, "Oh, well, these things happen!" and said I'd get there as soon I could, thinking that school was about to let out at noon anyway. The director then told me I better get down there quickly as the cut was very deep and would need stitches. Gulp.

After a quick call to Jared, I got Cornelia up from her nap and raced out the door. Max was SUCH a trooper and wasn't even crying by the time Jared got to him. We met at the ER where we waited around with tummies growling for Max to get fixed up. Seven stitches later he was ready to roll. The doctor and nurses were all so impressed with how well he did and we were very proud of our brave boy.

Maxwell's mantra for the last few months has been one of his memory verses from Sunday School, "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid!"

Thank you, Jesus, for protecting Maxwell yesterday and for giving him courage. Thanks, too, for giving Mommy and Daddy peace. We needed and felt it! Amen.

Night Light

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine,

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine,

Let it shine, Let in shine, Let it shine.

Big Man on Campus

Maxwell had his first day of preschool about three weeks ago, so I thought it might be time to actually post some pictures from the first day! Seriously, having three little ones is not for the faint of heart. My time is truly not my own, but that's okay. God has blessed us amazingly with these little lives and we will never forget it! So on to little life number two!

Max doesn't really need a backpack for preschool, but we decided that since big sister had one he might as well have one too. Also, it's nice for him to be able to carry his work home instead of me trying to juggle Cornelia in her carseat, holding Max's hand to cross the street and also juggle half a dozen pieces of "art" each time I pick him up! Unfortunately I did not grow another pair of hands when Cornelia came along... though it would have been nice!

Here's Mr. Handsome himself posing by the W.E.E. school sign! Max wasn't the slightest bit worried about going to class he was only annoyed that we were taking so much time to take pictures! He wanted to get in there and get playing with those toys!

Thankfully, it wasn't as hard on Mommy and Daddy either to let him go. He is such a sweet guy and I do miss him at home, but it feels good to leave him somewhere we know he is loved and is being taught about Jesus.

After Maxwell's third day of school he was quite smitten with his teacher, Miss Mandi. He's asked to have Miss Mandi over for a playdate, but I'm not sure she'd be up for that! Miss Mandi does report that he is an excellent helper, talented artist, and kind of accident prone... poor guy! He's a lovable clumsy little thing though. Way to go big man! We love you!

Did I forget to mention...

Our sweet baby girl, Cornelia Grace, was welcomed into our family May 26th weighing in at 7lbs 8oz and 21.5" long. She is a joy and big brother and sister love her to bits. Here's her one month photo shoot by Samantha Austin...

Name that Baby!

Last night I had a meeting with my Cooking Club so Jared had some good quality time with the kids before bedtime. One of the topics of conversation was what we should name the baby. Here's what Ruby had to say...

J: What do you think we should name the baby, Ruby?
R: Well, if it's a girl she should be Suzie. If it's a boy he should be Handsome or Charming.
J: You mean like Prince Charming?
R: No, just Charming. I found those names in my book.
J: Oh yeah, what book?
R: Cinderella!

So what do you think? Handsome Charming Nelson? Has quite a ring to it I think!

Baby Brain

I went to my 32 week appointment today by myself! Jared let me drop the kids off with him at work where they vegged with the video player and white board for about and hour and a half, while I had time to make a quick stop at the market, go to my appointment and actually talk to the doctor and the financial person, and I even went over to the billing office at the hospital to talk about cutting costs. All of that with no complaining or interruptions! It was wonderful!

It seems that all is well on the baby front-- I'm measuring ahead of schedule (33 weeks) and baby's heart is beating strong. I can attest to the fact that this little peanut is STRONG (Jared's thinks he/she is a little body builder!) as I've experienced nauseating full rolls at least once a day as well as plenty of stretching and thrown elbows and knees! In fact, I was thinking that any time now this little peanut could be born and be just a-okay! (Did you hear that kiddo? Let's get this show on the road! Well, maybe wait at least 4 more weeks, then you'll be cooked to perfection!)

I'm consistantly amazed at how God keeps meeting our needs-- He has supplied us with the extra money we'll need to pay doctor and hospital bills. He has helped us find inexpensive, but nice baby things at yard sales and on craigslist. He has allowed my back to be strong and relatively pain-free this pregnancy. He squashes my fears just when they are about to take over. He has met all of our needs and blessed us beyond measure.

Thank you, Jesus, for answering my prayers before I ever voice them to you. Thank you for reminding me that you are in control. Thank you for this baby, who is Yours in the first place. We can't wait to meet him... or her. I love you, Lord. Amen.

Things that make me go "Hmmmm..."

As the weather warms, my children are spending more and more time out of doors. Don't get me wrong, I love it! I remember the days of my childhood and long days spent outdoors fondly. I even remember being so desperate to stay outside and play that I snuck out from my nap and went to play at a neighbor's house. I'm sure my mom was both horrified and a bit satisfied when I came home screaming after the neighbor boy had mashed my finger with a hammer!

The thing that's been hard, though, is knowing how long to wait before seeing what kind of trouble Ruby and Max have gotten themselves into. Here are just a few of the scenes I've been greeted with in the last week or two.

• I came outside to see that they had smeared wet sand all over my Subaru! (No, it didn't get scratched up thankfully!)
• I found Ruby on the deck a few days ago-- she had trapped Daisy (the cat) in her crate, stuffed it with toys and was pouring water into the crate. The poor thing was sitting in a lake!
• They have poured Daisy's food into her water bowl--too many times to count.
• I have picked up dozens of toys from bushes, in trees, the creek, etc.
• I have run over several toys with the car.
• I have found them filling water sprinklers with sand.
• I have had filthy, naked children come screaming for me through the house on MANY occasions. Where are their clothes you might ask? Oh, they just had to take them off.
• I have turned off the hose that had been running for 'who knows how long' countless times.
• I attempted to solve the hose problem by setting a timer. Their solution for the pesky timer-- drown it in their water table.

These are the things that make me go, "hmmm..."

Bobs and Booboos

Just an average day at our house yesterday...

I took Ruby to Neveah ("heaven" backwards--cute, huh?) Salon to get her hair cut. What with the new found hair freedoms and ever growing tangly rat's nests, we thought a haircut was in order!

True to character, Ruby sat down in that chair and jabbered to her new best friend, Deanna, like there was no tomorrow. I was trying to read to Max across the room and just kept cracking up at the things Ruby felt she needed to share-- too funny! Anyway, it looks like those pesky bangs have finally grown out and she just looks cute as can be. What a beauty!

Once we got home, Max was up to his usual antics with not one, but two bloody knee incidents. Here's how it happened in his words...

"I got on my big bike ('cause I'm a BIG BOY!) and I cwash, den I cwash, and I cwash!"

There was also another incident where he slipped on all of the sand he'd thrown out of his sandbox onto the driveway and wiped out bad. Cleaning sand out of a bloody knee is no fun for anyone!

Looks like it's going to be the summer we keep band-aid in business. Gotta love boys!

Funnies

Ruby is quite a talker, especially when she has a captive audience-- like in the car! Recently we were driving along and Ruby interrupted herself to say,

"Hey, Mom! I see a telephone tower. Oops, I mean a cellophone tower!"

Cell towers are now known as "cellophone towers" in our house!

My Hair My Way

For a long time now Ruby's been all about dressing herself-- sometimes in the most outlandish and inappropriate outfits, but most of the time she does a great job. Over the last month, however, freedoms have been seized in new areas-- suddenly she's showering on her own instead of taking a bath with her brother, and putting on her "makeup" before she leaves the house. But, the icing on the cake has been her insistance at doing her own hair! Check out the hairdo she went to preschool in on Wednesday. Yes, I know.

The only thing that makes half a dozen barrettes on top of her head okay are the 12 she put in yesterday. We haven't quite figured out when enough is enough yet!

Oh, and can you tell Ruby and Daisy are getting along famously? Their favorite activities include Daisy getting perched on top of a tower of chairs, Daisy being carried around in a plastic basket, and apparently now they're climbing trees together. Fast friends. Something tells me it's going to be hard to get rid of this cat!

Our Little Gymnast!

I'm not sure if I've been too busy, too sick, or just too tired, but obviously, I haven't been blogging! I thought the least I could do, however, was post this short video of Ruby at gymnastics. She's since moved up to the next class and really enjoying it.

Cute Quotes

Ruby: I've got an idea Max!

Max: Wha' Wuby?

Ruby: Let's play Princess and the Pea! Do you want to be the pea?!

Big Boy!

This announcement has been long overdue, but I am happy and proud to announce that Maxwell is potty trained! And the extra cool thing is that he did is pretty much all on his own. No timer or reward charts this time, just let him lead and decide when he wanted to wear underwear and it worked!

Max really had a good time picking out his big boy undies (everything from Thomas the Tank Engine to the Transformers!) and is really revelling in the freedom of being able to stand up to pee! I'm just waiting for Ruby to try and leave a giant puddle on the floor and herself... She's already told me she thinks it would be more fun to be a boy, but I've assured her, being a girl is pretty great too.

p.s. No, he didn't grow facial hair too--just sampling some frosting from my birthday cake a few weeks ago--and boy, was it good. ;)

Before and After

Well, it turns out the whole haircut thing wasn't a one time occurrence.  A few days ago I found TWO piles of hair in different area of the house.  Ruby had her hair half up in pigtails (this picture sort of shows it) and she snipped the ends of the pigtails off.  

So, we headed down to the hair salon down the street for a professional trim.  The little chunks here and there were just a bit too much.  She's also forbidden to touch scissors, but I suppose that's a given!

Anyhow, as we waited for our turn Ruby and Max spent some time getting to know the clientele while testing to see how much candy they could eat from the communal jar.  We met an older gentleman named, Maxie, and also saw three or four older ladies getting their hair colored.  Time to get the spring spruce up and rinse out all that gray!

Finally, it was Ruby's turn in the chair.  The first words out of her mouth: 

"I don't need any color today."  

Dead serious.

I suppose it goes without saying that there were quite a few chuckles!  The stylist asked how old she was and got to work snipping some layers in to sort of disguise the "kid kut".  

I'm not too crazy about the haircut, but I suppose it will grow out by next month and we'll just go to a bob.  Guess I won't get to practice that french braiding any time soon after all!

But, goodness, doesn't my girl have a beautiful smile when she wants to?!  Wow!  She's a show stopper.

You got them to WHAT?!

Jared's just getting them prepped for baseball games... this is NOT a drinking game!

Down By the River

Last Sunday I had a wonderful afternoon with Ruby down by the French Broad River.  Jared stayed home with Max planning the week's menu (what a great hubby!) while we just kicked back.  Here are a few photos I took that afternoon.

The water was a good 18" higher than it had been a few weeks ago at Sycamore Flats.  From the photo, you'd think that it was July, but actually it was pretty brisk out.  Several families commented that Ruby must be freezing, but according to her the water was just fine!

I think the red skin tells a different story though!

My first attempt at French braiding Ruby's hair was a bit of a mess (no thanks to her little trim last week!), but it still stayed out of her face for the most part.

My girl.

I think it's going to be a great spring and summer!

It was inevitable...

I discovered this  little surprise yesterday as I sat down to check my email.  When confronted, Ruby admitted immediately that "yes" she had given herself a little trim.  The good news is that she seems to have a knack at haircutting (not that we're telling her that!).  She somehow managed to make some very nice framing layers right around her face.  

What a girl.

You've Never Seen Keith Green Like This!

I have to say, I LOVE the high kicks with the big ol' purple slippers.  That girl knows how to shake it.  Yee haw!